Like a good neighbor, Chris Paul is there.
He shook off the effects of a sprained thumb and started for the Los Angeles
Clippers on Sunday afternoon. Paul had a pretty good game, too: 18 points and
12 assists in a 125-117 upset over the Oklahoma City Thunder (–5.5 at home).
Score another
one for the good guys. As expected, the Clippers took advantage of Russell
Westbrook (13 points on 3-of-13 shooting) as he works his way back from injury.

Speaking of injuries: the New Orleans
Pelicans. They’re still missing three important players, including two starters,
as they prepare for a Monday night date (8:00 p.m. ET) with L.A. at the
Squishee King Center. The Pelicans have opened as 5-point puppies on the NBA
odds board with a total of 202.

Aside from that 123-78 laugher over the
Philadelphia 76ers (+15.5 away), Sunday was the first time that the Clippers
(38-20 SU, 32-26 ATS) had covered since Paul returned from his earlier shoulder
injury – there were three ATS losses in between. Despite the sprained thumb,
Paul played 39 minutes, and he came close to a triple-double as well with eight
rebounds. All of this and just one turnover, too.

But the star of the show in this game was
Jamal Crawford. The former Sixth Man on the Year started for L.A. at the 2-spot
and scored 36 points on 13-of-20 shooting, hitting five of his eight trey
attempts. Kudos as well to Matt Barnes (24 points, 6-of-10 from downtown), who
easily had his best game of the season. It’s probably too much to ask these
guys to do it again on Monday; however, this is a very promising sign for the
Clips as they deal with the continuing absence of J.J. Redick (17.2 PER), who’s
out for another 3-5 weeks with various injuries.

Baby
Steps

And the rich just keep getting richer. As
we go to press, Glen Davis (13.9 PER) has cleared waivers after his buyout with
the Orlando Magic, and by the time you read this, he should be a member of the
Clippers. This shores up one of the few weaknesses in the L.A. rotation: big
guys. After Blake Griffin (24.4 PER) and DeAndre Jordan (17.6 PER), the Clips
were down to Ryan Hollins (10.7 PER) once they got rid of Byron Mullens (8.0
PER) and Antawn Jamison (7.9 PER) at the trade deadline. Unless you want to
include Hedo Turkoglu (9.8 PER) as a big. You probably don’t.

Whether Davis suits up on Monday remains to
be seen as we go to press, but if he does, he’ll be a useful addition against
the Pelicans (23-32 SU, 24-27-4 ATS). It wouldn’t be entirely fair to call the
Pellies a one-trick pony, but Anthony Davis (26.4 PER) is by far their best
player – one of the very best in the NBA. And New Orleans is bereft of
supporting frontcourt talent with Ryan Anderson (19.1 PER) and Jason Smith
(12.6 PER) both injured. The man they call “Big Baby” would probably eat Alexis
Ajinca (11.1 PER) for breakfast. Mmmmm… French toast.

New Orleans is also missing starting point
guard Jrue Holiday (17.4 PER) with a fractured tibia, so this season has
essentially turned into mush down in the Big Easy. And as spirited as the
Pelicans have played through all this adversity, they’re
9-14 ATS against winning teams this season. Also, the Clippers are 6-6 ATS this
year on zero days of rest, so that NBA betting angle is off the table. Gonna
have to go with the visitors in this matchup.